Cigarette display case



April 14, 1953 N J FQKAKls 2,635,029

CIGARETTE DISPLAY CASE Filed June 13, 1949 Ziaaa I: /9 l8 Iii PatentedApr. 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE Nicholas J. Fokakis,Birmingham, Ala. Application J une 13, 1949, Serial No. 98,841

' "and an edge of one of the upper panels; Fig. 2

is an elevational view of the back of the case partly broken away toshow the springs and slidable blocks in two compartments and cigarettepackages therein.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings in detail it will be seen that the devicecomprises a main case i having four compartments 2. In the bottom ofeach compartment a compressed coil spring 3 is installed with a block 4mounted onit's top. Each block has extensions 5 as guides adapted toslide upward in grooves B in the partitions I. The block is adapted tobe pulled slightly backward when the main door 8 of the case isjopen,thereby allowing the extensions 5 to fit into the recessses 9 in thegrooves to thus hold the spring under the block compressed whilepackages In ofcigarettes are being placed in the compartment. When allof the compartmentsfare filled with packages of cigarettes the main doorthat is hinged at l I is closed after all .the blocks are released anddisposed to push the packages up- Ward and in place as plainly shown inFig. 4. The back of the upper part of the case has a separate panel I2over the top edge 13 of the main door for each compartment. Each panelhas its lower edge supported in a bracket [4 the height of the maincase.

that is supported across the back of the case.v

'The upper part of each panel is retained closed by any suit-able meanssuch as buttons or small latches at l5. On the back of each panel aslidable L-shaped plate I6 is mounted on buttons H and I8 fixed in thepanel. The plate has a slot 19 therein to allow the plate to bemanipulated on the buttons so as to occupy two l positions as indicatedby the slot as at 20 and 2L The plate in regular use is positioned asshown overlapping the top package to prevent it from being easilyremoved from the case by any one in front of the case and so inclined.When a salesman wants to pull out a package for a customer the plate isfirst moved upwardly by manual movement by taking hold of the knob 22attached to the plate, then to the right and downward to occupy theslanting position as shown so as to remove the upper part of the plateaway from the cigarette package in order to pull same out of thecompartment.

The removable panel also provides for replacing packages of cigarettesin the compartment without opening the main door by manually pushing thesupporting block downward and inserting packages one at a time till thecompartment is completely filled.

The rounded front portion 23 of the case is provided with glass or othertransparent material in order to display cigarette advertising matter asshown. The front portion 23 is adapted to rest upon the inner edge of asales counter (not shown) with case front wall resting adjacent theinner face of the counter. The front portion 23 is made so that it maybe detached from the main case if desired.

The main case is shown with four compartments for cigarettes but moremay be provided if desired by making the case wider and. having doubleback doors if necessary. Also the case may be made to contain twenty ormore packages of cigarettes in each compartment by increasing The toppanels above the main door may be made to enclose more than threepackages in each compartment as shown by making the panels extend lowerand removing part of the upper part of the main door.

The case assembly may be made of any material suitable for the purpose,such as hard wood, glass, plastic, metal and the like. Also it may bemade in different sizes and capacities.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to limit same to the exact and precise detailsof structure, but reserve the right to make all modifications andchanges so long as they remain within the scopeof the invention and thefollowing claim.

mounted on the cabinet to define with the top and side walls an accessopening; a panel removably supported on said bracket to close a lowerportion of said opening; latches between the upper end of the panel andthe cabinet to retain said panel on said bracket; an L-shaped platepositioned on said panel but having a portion thereof extending abovethe upper end of said panel to normally prevent access to an upperportion of said opening; said plate having an L-shaped slot therein; andbuttons fixedly 4 mounted on said panel and projecting through said.L-shaped slot to retain the plate on the panel but allow the plate to bemoved to a position out of registry with said upper portion of saidopening.

NICHOLAS J. FOKAKIS. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS m Number Name Date 448,637 Cooke Mar. 24, 1891 1,284,597Clinchy Nov. 12, 1918 2,009,905 Rankin July 30, 1935

